What is Driving You?

This week I thought I would get a little more personal and pull back the curtain on what drives me. I often get asked why I do what I do. Here’s why. School was mostly ok for me apart from a time when I found myself on the wrong side of a bully. I have vivid memories of being taken into a room and shoved against the wall. His face was about 2 inches from mine, and his breath stank. I wasn’t particularly bothered about the bullying I was more bothered that someone like him would use fear and intimidation to control another human being.

It ignited a passion in me about the injustice of people being shut down, oppressed and suppressed, where they effectively lose their voice. The secret those who do this believe is that they have more power than the person they are attempting to control. You may have seen this happen yourself or experienced it. When someone’s voice is missing, the world around them is poorer for it. As I have progressed in my leadership journey, I have noticed many leaders using the tools of fear and intimidation to achieve their ends. It drove me to ask: is there a better way?

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Which brings me to what I do now. I believe that there is a better way because when all people can be heard we benefit from their view of the world. The vision, picture, decision is better for all viewpoints to be tabled not just the loudest or most powerful. It has driven a passion in me to create environments where people feel safe to make their contribution. I have realised that leaders set the culture, so I work with leaders to help them lead well and create a culture where all can be engaged.

The key I have discovered is to lead out of love and not out of fear.

“To add value to others, one must first value others.” John Maxwell

The End Goal

Our vision at Smart Culture is simple:

“To see fearless organisations and teams led in a way that everyone can be seen, heard and valued for their unique contribution such that high engagement, innovation and creativity are the norm.”

When people are seen and heard where they work they are more engaged. Put simply, Smart Culture’s mission is to create fearless organisations and high performing teams through high quality coaching and training of their leaders.

When what you do each day aligns with your passion then you have the energy and drive to see it through the challenges you will face.

As leaders you must understand that you win when your team wins; and they win when they know they can venture their opinion without fear. Such cultures engender the creativity and innovation which drives growth and success.

As you think about your own leadership, what is your back story? What is your passion? I would love to hear it.

To discover how to be a S.M.A.R.T. leader leading from love then give me a call on 07791 755990 or email me on mark@smartculture.uk.

Picture of Mark Billage

Mark Billage

Mark’s passion is to help realise individuals’ potential, be they leaders or team members, through empowering organisational culture. He has spent 7 years leading an organisation based in the non profit sector. In that time, he focused on creating a culture that enabled and empowered individuals, with the aim of seeing a high performing team better able to achieve the organisation’s mission.

Our Vision

To train and equip leaders to transform culture, build successful teams and organisations where everyone is seen, heard and valued for their unique contribution.

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